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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24370360">Second Choice</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/GloriousLittleKoala/pseuds/GloriousLittleKoala'>GloriousLittleKoala</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>When Someone Gets Hurt [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Miraculous Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, F/M, Heartbreak, Insecurity, One-Sided Attraction</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 06:35:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>911</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24370360</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/GloriousLittleKoala/pseuds/GloriousLittleKoala</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Luka wonders if the second choice has any right to love her.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>When Someone Gets Hurt [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1759522</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>39</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Second Choice</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So, why does it have to be Luka that probably gets hurt? </p><p>He's too precious for this.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sometimes Luka finds himself lying awake at night. He stares at the guitar sitting on his nightstand, unmoving. His hand itches to play, but all he could really do is curl tighter, whisper out her name and wish that across Paris, she's awake too, thinking of him. </p><p>Often he wonders if he has the rights to love someone who has given themselves so fully to somebody else. Somebody who doesn't look at him the same way. Somebody who would bend heaven and earth just to have the mere chance with the one they love. </p><p>Does he have the rights to try and reach for a heart that beats for somebody else?</p><p>Marinette looks at Adrien like he is everything she has been waiting for in each reincarnation. Like Adrien is the only place her fragile soul will ever belong with. Marinette looks at him like she will never be in love with anyone ever again. </p><p>He can never be Adrien. Adrien is Marinette's sun. All glowing smiles and sunshine eyes, and Marinette can't help but revolve around him. Luka is the moon revolving around Marinette. Small; insignificant, really.</p><p>Really, who is he to even attempt to change her heart?</p><p>Luka felt bitterness settle deep into his chest. He doesn't like this. Usually, feelings like these are easy to get rid of. The feeling of his fingers on the strings of his guitars, the sound of a soft melody, the scratch of pencil against a blank music sheet. Luka knows how to handle negative emotions well.</p><p>He's a calm person. Soft spoken, kind, and brave without having to be loud. He's quick to brush away anything that bothers him. But Marinette has always been the exception. The way she talks in that nervous, fluttering, yet lively voice makes his throat dry. The way she smiles at anything, no matter how small, makes his lungs burn. The way she can be so kind, yet so full of fire makes him feel like he has found his reason to live. </p><p>But at the same time, the way she looks at Adrien, like she has no place in her heart for anybody else, hurts. And the way he looks at her, like she's just another face in the crowd, hurts even more. </p><p>He doesn't even know what he has in his hands.</p><p>He can't hate Adrien either. Adrien is kind and loving and perfect in a way that Luka can't ever be. He's the golden child with the perfect soul. He fills every crevice with excitement and joy just by being there. If Luka tells him he loves Marinette, he'll probably try to push her towards him. Luka can't find it in himself to hate him.</p><p>Being in love is much harder when your rival is as perfect as Adrien Agreste.</p><p>It's funny really. Luka knows that no amount of songs and chords and notes can change her heart. Luka knows the feeling way too well. She loves him the way he loves her. Like he's the sweetest melody she will ever hear in all of her lifetimes. Even if that melody isn't playing for them, he and Marinette keeps pressing repeat, hoping that someday, that song will play for them. Each repeat, each realization that it may never happen, hurts just a little bit more.</p><p>Luka knows how much that stings. But Marinette is strong. She keeps going. Keeps trying to get closer to him. Keeps putting on a brave face to try and love him. Even if it has to be from afar. Marinette just keeps going on.</p><p>It's times like this that he wonders, does he have the right to try and insert himself into her life like this? Offer her his heart and a knife, as if he doesn't know who she'll choose.</p><p>It's selfish, really. Maybe he wants her to think of him. Think of him often enough that maybe one day he can push Adrien out of her mind. Maybe she can lie awake too, thinking of him. Lie there awake at night thinking about how the way his eyes shine in the moonlight makes them seem like they hold a whole universe. Maybe she can lie awake too thinking about his hands tangled against hers, his fingers brushing against her cheek. Maybe she can start looking at him in that lovely way she looks at Adrien, with bright eyes, melting like wax just because he's there. Just because his presence, in her eyes, is that special. </p><p>He's well-aware of what he is: the other guy. The one destined to have to let her go. The one who has to say "as long as you're happy." The one who's heart gets broken and later forgotten, because in the end, he was the second choice. And Marinette deserves better than second choice. </p><p>She'll look at him someday, guilt in those eyes of hers and tell him she's sorry. She's sorry because no matter how he tries, Adrien has already taken too much space in her heart. She's sorry because her love story - her happy ending - has no place for him. She's sorry because she can't love him back. She loves Adrien too much.</p><p>He'll probably force a smile. Maybe he'll be able to say "It's fine. Go get him, Marinette," without crying. </p><p>In the end, he's the second choice. The second choice who's going to get heartbroken, and has to be fine afterwards. </p><p>Marinette deserves better than the second choice.</p>
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